Apparatus for folding of carton blanks



-May 19, 1925.

J.'W. NA$MITH APPARATUS FOR FOLDING OF CARTON BLANKS Filed April 21.- 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 B A 0 C b age A B E May 19, 1925.

CARTON BLANKS Filed April 21, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 L overon the blank centreby retaining means.

chine, occupying much space.

JOHN INASMIIH; "OF

ear OFFHIE.

-MANGHESDE-R, ENGLAND.

(APPARATUS iron memer daemon Brianne.

Application edAprilfll, 1-924 Serial No. $707,990.

To" all whom it may I concern .Be it known that 1, -JOHN l/ViLLIAM .NAsMirH, a -s-ubjeot of the KIing of Great Britain, and a zresident oflleatonflMersey, Manchester, in the county of'Lancaster, Englla1 1d,-;haue invented new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Folding "of Carton Blanks, of which :the following is a specification. .7 j Inv apparatus as commonly used fOP'itllG :foldingof carton blanksiafter the necessary creasing has been effected, the blanksare fed lengthwise intothe folding machineand the fiaps to be folded over are raised by inc-lined faces in their. traverse through the machine This of necessity calls for a very long maof the present invention is an apparatus \to fold the flaps 0f the carton blanks over and on to the body or eentre of the blank without the necessityo f providinrr the long and spaceoccupying, inclined faces just referred to, andlto simplify the folding apparatus generally.

With the above objects in view any apparatus consists of means? for feeding the creased blanks into the folding apparatus and traversing them therethrough in :a directionat might angles 'to the creases on which they have to be folded, the foremost aflap being automatically raised and folded during theitraverse-of the blank, and posi tire means for folding over the rear flap which means operate .in the direction :of traverse of the blank.

Where a small gluing liapiis provided on the edge of one of the flaps, that-flap is the foremost in tra ersing the apparatus .and it is glued by holding it momentarily in oontact with .a gluing; roller and lifting it from said roller before the traverse of the blanks brings the foren'i'ost foldable flap thereto,

this lifting; being auton'iatieallgv effected by the edges of the foremost foldahle flap 0111- i ng upon thenieans which raise them as the first/step in the operation of the folding thereof.

The apparatus will now be fully deseri-bed with refereneeto the accompanying draw ngs. wherein Figure 1 is a plan of .a rarton blank creased ready for folding, .a small gluing fiap being shown attachedto that foldable flap which is the first to be folded in passing through the apparatus The object section where they extend across the apparatus;

F gure 5 is a plan of the apparatus enr- ;ployed for arresting the edge of a gluing flap whilst glue is applied thereto; and

Figures 6 and .7 .are details. v 'llhedrawings are not to any special scale.

Referring to thefigures, the-cartons, ready 1 cut andsc'ored, are piled in a hopperof the usual kindiand delivered one by one to the machine in the usual manner. The feed rollers 1, .2,and 1" and 2 pass the cartons forward. The glue. tank T is of the usual kind and revolving therein is the-glue roller R working in conjunction with the. squeez- .ing roller S and operating as described in any British specificationNd 8263 of 1911, so that a thin but regulatable filni of glu is carried round by the rollers. The tank and rollers can be removed when the machine is required to fold without gluing. i

, Between thefeed rollers l, .25, and the roller S is a rod 3- carry ing arms 4 adjustable lengthwise on the rod and to which are riveted a pair ofblades "5 inclined as shown at 6. These blades are seen in plan in Figure 5 and one of them in perspectivein Fig ure 6. The horizontal part 5 is longer than the inclined part '6 and they are made in pairs. They are adjusted on the rod so that the body A 13 0 of theoarton tobe operated on will pass between the inner edges "of the inclined part 6, over which only the end parts I of the cartons pass.

Above the blades 5 sa rod 7 free to rock in its bearings. It-carries fing'ers'S adjusted longitudinally thereon and positioned so as to fall between the inclined parts 6 0f the blades as shown in plan in F' ure Means, such as the screw V, Figure are provided to limit the rocking of the rod 7, so that the lingers-'8 'fall very close to the roller S without actually touching it. 'On the end of the rod 7 is a lever LfF-igure -7, on which is the adjustable weight WV, so that the resistance 7 of the fingers stodisplacement by the on ward moving carton can be nicely regulated and their return to normal position assured when the carton has passed.

The function of these organs is as follows. The feed roller 1 is placed slightly forward of the centre of the roller 2 so as to direct the front edge of the carton downwards as it issues from the rollers. It passes over the horizontal part of the blade 5 and the front edge under the fingers 8, which compel the underside of the lip A to touch the roller S when this is in use. But only for an instant, because the end flaps F of the carton, riding up the inclined part 6 of the blades, raise it and cause it also to push the fingers 8 away as they offer but slight resistance. When no gluing is required and the size of the carton permits they may be thrown over out of the way by turning the lever L over.

The swinging levers 9 Figure 4:, are adjustable longitudinally on the free shaft 10 and are each formed with a short arm 11 resting normally against the cross bar 12 adjustable vertically in the slots 13 by the screw 14c. The proximity of the lower end of the levers 9 to the blades 6 can thus be regulated. They are positioned on their shaft as shown in plan Figure 5, and receive the flaps F of the carton as it passes off the inclined blades 6, giving way before it but offering some resistance by reason of the spring 32 attached to a lever 28 fixed on the end of the shaft 10. Their function is to turn over the forward end B of the carton at the crease E as soon as this has passed under the fingers 8 or is free from the rollers 1, 2, when the fingers are not in use. If the lip A has been glued, the glue is now upperi'nost. As soon as the fold has been made the doubled front edge of the carton (Figure 2) is presented naturally over the fixed plate 15 to the grip of the transporting rollers 16, 17. lit will be understood that 17 and also 18 are not continuous rollers but bosses acting only on the end flaps F of the cartons and adjustable lengtlr wise on their respective shafts M and X, to suit different widths of cartons. The rollers 1.8, 19 carry the carton forward over the plate 20 so that the folded edge Figure 2 enters the recess 21 in the lower ends of the pendent levers 22. There are av number of such levers fixed at regular intervals along the shaft 23, which is quite free to rock in its bearings 26. The lower lip of the recess 21 projects into grooves 0 formed in the curved front of the transverse grid casting 27 which reaches right across the machine resting on slides 31 formed on the framing. It can be moved nearer to or further from the rollers 18, 19 as required and clamped in position. One or more of the levers 22 is provided with a projection 21 contacting with the set screw 25 in the cross bar connecting the bearings 26. These are adjustable along the framing of the machine and are connected to the grid casting 27 by the rods 33, so that the pendent levers 22 can be adjusted along with the grid as desired, in relation to the rollers 18, 19, in addition to a similar but more limited adjustment by the screws 25. The advancing carton pushes the levers 22 away as it is forced up the curved face of the grid 27, until the last crease D has passed over the face of the plate 20 and as soon as the flap C is free from the rollers 18, 19, it turns up to the position of the dotted line N, being lifted by the teeth of flutes of the bosses 18. The carton then collapses and the rear doubled edge passes down between the face '29 of the plate 20 and the nose of the grid 27 as indicated by the arrow to the grip of the press roller 30, which, under spring pressure, squeezes the flap C against the lip A and, if A is glued, causes it to adhere thereto. The bosses 18 may be made either with square or angular faces, flutes or teeth. or the teeth may be resilient, giving way and sinking into the body of the boss when contacting with the lower roller 19. Their function is to raise the rear end of the carton and bend it at the crease D so that it will collapse under the weight of the levers 22 and pass down to the press rollers, when it passes to a counting and stacking device of the ordinary kind.

I claim i 1. Apparatus for folding carton blanks, comprising feed rollers, traversing rollers for the carton blank, inclined blades upon which the foremost flap of the carton blank ascends, yielding levers to check momentarily the foremost edge of said flap to turn it over upon the blank centre, toothed or like wheels under which the blank with its foremost flap folded may pass, and yieldable lovers to check the folded edge momentarily to allow the toothed or like wheels to raise the outer edge of the rear flap, in the direction of traverse of the blank, and on their return movement to discharge the now collapsed carton blank to press rollers in a dclivery chute.

2. In combination with the features U5 claimed in claim 1. a gluing roller, and yieldable and adjustable fingers to arrest momentarily the edge of a gluing flap in contact with the Silltl roller before the carton blank edge is raised by the inclined blades, substantially as hereinbefore set forth.

3. In apparatus having the features claimed in claim 1, inclined blades upon which the edges of the carton blank ascends, pivoted levers yieldable against spring ten- V33 sion with the free end of which levers the ascending blank edge makes contact, and screw adjustable stops to limit the extent of angular movement of such levers, for the purpose hereinbefore set forth.

5 pivoted levers against the free ends of which the blank abuts Whilst the rotating toothed orlike Wheels, raise the rear flap of the blank, and screw adjustable stop means for I limiting the extent of yielding angular movement of such levers, substantlally as here inbefore set forth.

5. In apparatus having the features claimed in claim 1, levers yieldable to the pressure of the traversing carton blank until the toothed Wheels have raised the rear flap thereof, and a Chute to which the said levers deliver the blank on the return oscillation of such levers, substantially as hereinbefore set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

J. W. NASMITH. 

